Mo. man charged with cashing dead mother's check

Mo. man charged with cashing dead mother's check

INDEPENDENCE, Mo. (AP) -- A western Missouri man who is being investigated in alleged abuse of his mother has been charged with cashing her Social Security check after she died.

Jackson County prosecutors on Thursday charged James Owens with forgery, alleging he cashed the $741 government check three days after his mother died in Independence.

Prosecutors say 74-year-old Carol F. Brown was left in reclining chair so long that her legs fused to the chair. She was found after suffering a stroke but died at a hospital. According to court documents, Owens said he left his mother alone because she wanted to die at home.

Court documents do not show that Owens has an attorney.

No charges have been filed in Brown's death. An investigation is continuing.